Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kolleen & Bobby Kintz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kolleen & Bobby , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I’d say our resiliency comes from our clown training. I attended Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in 2010, Bobby came along, as my partner. Clown was one of our areas of study, and our exposure to this art form was life-changing. Think Charlie Chaplin and Lucille Ball; physical comedy highlighting the beauty and blunders of humanity. Very fun, but also deeply vulnerable and challenging work.
The idea of buoyancy is paramount to clowning. Finding the resiliency that is needed to bounce back when life knocks you down. How to stay hopeful? How to keep jumping back into the game? Laughter helps. The clown falls, and gets back up…and maybe, they can make it funny. The ability to laugh at yourself is a goal to strive towards.
This clown mindset has been at the wheel in our life as we built our photography business, got married, taught summer camps, became parents, and pursued passions like coaching softball and being in a band. Have fun! Make yourself laughQ There is much to be found in a willingness to be the fool, to accept yourself, flaws and all. To develop an understanding that we’re all just scared and looking for acceptance. Authenticity breeds confidence. We are perfect, just as we are.
The connective nature of clown is key in keeping up resiliency. No matter what we’re doing, whether it’s photographing a wedding, performing, or coaching, it all relies on connection. Connecting with self, with your partner, with everyone around you. To truly see another and be seen, which is vulnerable, and so powerful. Everyone you meet is engaged in a tremendous struggle. We must remember that and show each other kindness.
It is from the strength of our connection as husband and wife, our connection to friends, family, and community that we maintain our resiliency.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
We are Kolleen & Bobby Kintz. The husband and wife team behind Photos By Kintz, a lifestyle photography company based in the Mad River Valley, with roots in Baltimore, Maryland. We are focused on documenting the people around us, near and far, with the goal of making that an enjoyable and memorable experience for those boldly stepping in front of our cameras. It’s our goal to make you laugh and to help bring out your truest self.
After meeting in 2007, getting to know each other as friends, falling in love in 2009, and getting married in 2012, we shot our first wedding together. It was undeniable that our passion for life and romantic hearts were well-suited for documenting love stories. 13 years later, we are still tearing up during vow exchanges, playing games with the kiddos, and sliding onto the dance floor to capture the late-night action. We love what we do, and that is fueled by our love for each other.
In addition to wedding photography, we specialize in documenting families in all phases of life, brand photography catered to each business and their needs, live performance, adventure sports, and events of all types.
We live in central Vermont now, but started our business in Baltimore. Charm City was the perfect spot for that season of our life, before becoming parents. But, the northeast called to us ever since getting married there in 2012. Moving to the Mad River Valley is a longtime dream come true. Kolleen’s grandparents came from Maryland to the Valley in 1949, to ski the first season at Mad River Glen. It was love at first sight, and ever since, the family has been traveling here to stay at a house built in the mid 1960’s; always the home away from home. We were married in the backyard of that very home, and now we get to live our dream, having made the Valley our home in 2020.
Living here has allowed us to blossom into fuller versions of ourselves. We are grateful every day, to be living in such a beautiful place, surrounded by a community unlike anything we’ve ever witnessed. The people here are hard-working, fun-loving, honest humans, who really hold one another up, and hold each accountable. Raising our daughter here is a gift and getting to thrive as artists in a place where what we do is valued feels like the icing on the cake.
We are also trained physical theatre performers, having studied at Dell’Arte International and with Dody Disanto at The Center for Movement Theatre in D.C. We have been volunteers with Clowns Without Borders, an international non-profit that brings joy, laughter, and connection to children and families in crisis zones. Kolleen became Dr. Pickle after training with Healthy Humor and worked for 5 years at Johns Hopkins, as one of the Red Nose Docs. We have hosted our Kintz Clown Camp for children in both Baltimore and Vermont, and the future of our humanitarian and educational clown work is bright!
Moving forward, our focus is on continuing to live an authentic life where we never stop learning, growing, and playing. We hope to give back to our community and continue to connect. We strive to live in the present moment and to let love show us the way.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1) Be a Trailblazer!
Carve your own path through life. Find an area of expertise that you enjoy doing, and do it. Never stop learning and be sure to learn from many different people in your field. Don’t dwell on worrying about “what you’re supposed to do.” Care not what other might think, it’s none of your business. Do what you love and the money will follow.
2) Take the high road!
It’s always the best road. When it comes to personal and professional relations, you will never regret choosing to let the small stuff go and focusing on the bigger picture. As a business owner, you have a responsibility to be the bigger person, to choose peace and forward movement. Make it your business to get along with everyone. Treat others with kindness and respect and you will receive the same in return.
3) Don’t talk about it, be about it!
Be the change you wish to see in the world. Dreaming and scheming is what plants the seed, but it’s up to you to show up every day and water the garden. Hard work and consistency is what gets the job done. The long way is the shortcut to a life well-lived. Be honest with yourself, prioritize self-care, and find a trusted partner who can help hold you accountable.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
We would spend that decade loving each other as fiercely as lions. We would savor every moment of our 6 year old daughter’s fleeting childhood, and see that she is a content and kind human being. We would laugh until we cried and then laughed again. We would marvel at the beauty of the landscape and the people in our lives, documenting everything we saw. We would quietly reflect in nature. Howl at the moon. Dance under the stars. We would ski every day there was snow, sing at the top of our lungs, swing big, round third, and slide into home.
There wouldn’t be much difference to how we live our lives already.
We are living the life of our dreams. Our soup is made up of a wacky recipe that suits us just fine. As the Devil Makes Three says, “this life it ain’t right for everybody, everybody’d do it now if it was easy. This life it ain’t right for everybody, but it sure’s been good to me.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.photosbykintz.com
- Instagram: @photos_by_kintz
Image Credits
Photos By Kintz
